(Photograph) - The EIS held a rally in Glasgow last Saturday in protest at the city council’s plans to remove nursery teachers from nursery schools. The 37 establishments affected by the proposal all have headteachers and were considered large enough to support nursery teachers as well. The proposal, which would save pound;370,000, will go before the full council next Thursday. Aileen Scullion, Glasgow EIS chairperson and herself an experienced nursery headteacher, said: “Teachers and parents are well aware of the value of fully qualified teachers in the nursery service. The extra that they bring is well documented in all the research into early-years education.

“Why is Glasgow going in a different direction in nursery from the rest of Europe and the developed world? Don’t we owe our children more?”

Jack Barnett, the union’s national president, said: “The proposals being put forward to remove nursery teachers from nursery schools have absolutely nothing to do with educational principle and everything to do with cutting budgets.”

Photograph by ASHLEY COOMBESEPIC SCOTLAND